Feb 9, 2012

News Update: February 9, 2012

NEWS UPDATE: February 9, 2012

Coming soon to a video game console near you: Muppet costumes for the popular game Disney Universe available on the X-Box 360 and PS3! The game, which acts as Disney's answer to the popular Little Big Planet games (which coincidentally also have Muppet costumes), features downloadable content which allows you to get more costumes for your player to dress it up as your favorite Disney characters. Specific characters or costume details (or even pictures) have yet to be released, but for an example of what they might look like, check out the Mike Wazowski (from Monsters, Inc.) costume at right!

In huge awards show news (no, The Academy still hasn't changed their minds about Original Song performances), Miss Piggy will be hosting the Red Carpet for the BAFTAs in London! BAFTA stands for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and they've chosen Piggy to host their red carpet arrival ceremony before the awards kick off. This means that our British friends across the pond have the chance to see Piggy on TV interacting with the likes of George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep, and many, many other major actors and actresses. The show begins this Sunday night in London. No word yet on if American audiences will get to see the Pig in action... but one can hope.

Speaking of the Brits, Kermit the Frog and Pepe the Prawn recently filmed a commercial for the Cravendale milk company. The commercial stars Kermit and Pepe (obviously) along with the breakout star: Pepe's magic potato. Watch for yourself below...

Hysterical, no? What's even better, our good friend Matt Drapper has started an internet sensation (sort of) with his Tumblr account: Pepe Potatoes, where he matches up Pepe and his magic potato alongside quotes from history and movies and television. The result is absolute hilarity. Check out one of our favorites below and head over to Pepe Potatoes on Tumblr for yourself!

The incredibly popular line of POP! Vinyl figures from Funko, which partners often with Disney, is releasing a line of Muppet figures! The first wave of figures will feature Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Animal, and Dr. Teeth and will be available in stores soon. For now, you can see concept art for the awesome looking figures below (and start saving your money to buy them as soon as they come out):

The folks at Virgin Radio are hosting a Fake Film Festival, in which filmmakers spoof popular films in 60 seconds. Well, one of the incredibly talented people has made "The Muppet Movie in 60 Seconds" with a mixture of Palisades Toys, old dolls, and paper cut-outs--and it's absolutely spectacular. You can watch the video below but be sure to go to Virgin Radio's contest page and click the "Like" button to help make this the winning film!

Finally, in Oscar news, after The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that there would be no Best Original Song performances on the Oscar telecast--thus meaning no Muppets--people all over the internet took to protesting. Celebrities ranging from Judd Apatow (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up), Alison Brie (Community), Adam Levine (Maroon 5), Jeff Garlin (Curb Your Enthusiasm), and Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille) took to Twitter to show their support for the Muppets and their disdain towards The Academy. Even The Muppets co-writer Nicholas Stoller took a stand alongside Jason Segel on Twitter to protest the decision. But the biggest contribution came from noted blogger Perez Hilton who started a petition to "Get The Muppet On The Oscars!" As of writing, the petition has over 9,000 signatures (in less than one day, mind you) and is still growing. If you haven't already, please go sign and show your support for Walter, the Muppet, Jason Segel, Peter Linz, Bret McKenzie, and everyone on The Muppets team. Don't they deserve it? You never know if we can make a difference!